


For Want of Knowledge

by addie_cakes



Category: Figure Skating RPF
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, b.esp commentators, b.esp uncles, just a lot of fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-13
Updated: 2018-09-13
Packaged: 2019-07-11 21:28:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15980870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/addie_cakes/pseuds/addie_cakes
Summary: Two familiar commentators excitedly discuss the men's event at the 2020 World Figure Skating Championships. Topics include the physical attributes of one specific skater, a new champion and personal bests, and one (un)surprising romantic revelation.





	For Want of Knowledge

“We’ve got Shoma Uno, twenty-two years old, from Nagoya, Japan. He rocketed into first with a magnificent short program, but we’ve still got to see if he can keep the lead now, when it counts.”

A cough, and then a hum of affirmation. “You know, he’s been strong in the practices, he showed absolutely no waver in the short—I think if he skates clean—even if he’s close to a clean skate, he’s got the gold tucked away.”

As the commentators speak, Shoma glides onto the ice, the absolute picture of calm. He’s been this way for the past few years, stoic and seemingly unbothered before he begins his programs. He’s remarkable, in that he doesn’t let his nerves show until after he’s done skating and even then, he sometimes looks as if he hasn’t just done something spectacular out on the rink when he waits for his scores. Just a twitch of a smile, a few short breaths and a grab for his water bottle, and that’s usually it. Perhaps a few comments to his coach. 

That’s what makes him charismatic, though, likable, approachable—Shoma is, essentially, exciting to watch and hard to understand.

“He’s been so focused this entire season, and—you know, I don’t know if it’s something different with his training, if he’s just a little older, a little calmer, something in his personal life—“

Chris looks over at Simon, then, confused and questioning, like he knows something that the other commentator doesn’t but is unwilling to say anything contradictory, so he just settles for nodding. “Yeah…his fellow countryman Yuzuru Hanyu is currently sitting in first place after that lovely free skate—”

“—but he left quite the opening in the short program with those little mistakes. It’s just wide enough that Shoma can slip in and take the title.”

The music begins, a tune that’s a little more fast-paced and a little more slippery and a little feistier than his free programs’ music in the last few years. It’s not as dramatic, but it works for him, anyway. It might be a better-suited cut of music for a short program, and Chris has objectively said that in the past, but Shoma’s just got this way about him that lets him carry a music-heavy program without becoming lost in it. The music doesn’t help him; he enhances the music.

Simon clears his throat. “He’s got three quads planned for this program, and the first is a quad loop—“ He’s reading his program wrong; it’s a flip, but Shoma lands it all the same. “—and he’s got it! The height he gets with those legs, with the power he’s got in those thighs to stick that landing, it’s—it’s incredible, really.”

On the ice, Shoma throws his arms in the air in a dramatic fashion, as if he’s cutting through some sort of invisible barrier, and he leans his body in a curve, controlled and loose at the same time, his body bending as he pleases, the young man practically liquid as he slows his pace around the rink. In the past few years, he’s learned to refine his expressions, to truly emulate the character’s he’s embodying, and he runs a hand along the length of his torso, gaze downcast and dreamy, leg drifting back behind him as he pushes off against the surface. He lifts his head, then, rolls his shoulders like a shiver’s just run through his body, and quickens his steps.

“Every year we get to the end of the season, we get to Worlds and we say, ‘This is Shoma Uno’s time,’ and then Hanyu goes and breaks a world record, or Shoma’s injured, but this year, everything seems to be falling into place for him. He’s got everything it takes to be the World Champion—he’s got the quads, he’s got this spectacular star quality about him, the musicality—quad toe, just as clean as the loop—“ It was still a flip from before, not that anyone’s noticed. “—and he’s got that handsome face, you—you want to see him win, but the stars have just never aligned for him here at the World Championships…I think they will tonight.” 

Simon’s’ voice dips into that thoughtful, somber lilt of his despite his palpable eagerness for the young man’s prophesied success; he’s quiet for a few moments more, while Chris has nothing to add. Everyone thinks that Shoma is incredible and a joy to watch, and he's always been so consistent at every competition he attends, but he really does seem to be at his best form tonight.

Shoma shoots himself into the air for a combination jump—a triple Axel, half loop, and a triple flip—lands it handily, and the audience erupts into a larger applause than before. Of course, no cheers will ever match the kinds that Yuzuru receives during his performances, but these are certainly nothing to scoff at. Shoma brings his own fanfare; the people like him, Simon likes him, Yuzuru Hanyu loves him (but Simon doesn’t seem to know that yet, and no one’s keen on telling him), and his efforts and his strength on the ice make him more popular by the year.

He might have the stars aligning for him tonight, but Shoma Uno himself is the star that never burns out, not even for a second. He's a constant now, has had years in the senior division and has only fallen from a podium position a handful of times. It's only natural that he's as popular as he is, as he is always there and always presents himself as one of the skaters to watch.

There’s some traveling during Shoma’s spins, but it’s not enough to fault him ridiculously; neither of the commentators mention it, let alone notice it, and Simon just chokes out a surprised kind of laugh after the music shifts, and Shoma begins to transition into the second half of his program. “I said he needed to be clean, I didn’t say he had to be magnificent.” 

It’s obvious that Shoma is doing well, of course, and is giving one of the best performances in his career, and certainly his best of the season, but he  _ is _ only halfway through the program, and Simon might be exaggerating a little bit about the magnitude of Shoma’s effort. It is impressive, but Yuzuru will still probably take the free; it’s a matter of whether the younger man’s score from the short program will be enough to cover the deficit. 

And, if he keeps up like this, it likely will.

“We’re coming right into the second half,” Chris begins, “and Shoma’s really looking to get that ten-percent bonus on these last three jumps.” He tries to maintain his impartiality about Shoma and Yuzuru. But he's learned, as everyone has, from watching Shoma, that it's hard not to root for the younger man. He knows himself ridiculously well, always puts himself in strong standings and yet has never seemed overwhelmed, has never lost his humility, and well—he's a cute young man who inspires others to possess positive feelings about him. Objectively, of course.

“Can you believe he’s got a  double Axel-quad toe combination lined up here? He’s already tired, his legs have already carried him through half his program, and—this man’s a machine.” As expected, Shoma attempts the combination, his body a little off-axis before the second jump, but he manages to save himself with a deep bend of his knee. Shoma rights himself, a quirk of a smile curling against his lips, and continues.

Chris can’t even begin to praise that move and that self-awareness (the smiles Shoma gives when he does show a flaw are by and far some of the most admirable things about him) before Simon lets out a long noise of appreciation, that "ho-ho" and accentuated kind of a chuckle that he does whenever Shoma Uno particularly impresses him (it sounds so wrong, but the young man's performances never cease to elicit those kinds of reactions from him). “Spectacular—”

“—he’s really showing us what he’s capable of with this program.”

"Every time you think he's going to fall, he manages to keep it together."

The triple Axel Shoma delivers is clean (“as a whistle,” Simon adds), and the young man hardly looks tired, even as he’s nearing the end of his program. He moves quickly into another jump and doesn’t miss a beat. His step sequence is exciting, reminiscent of something Daisuke Takahashi-esque, his steps light despite the power he’s built up in his lower body. Shoma has remarkable control of the two halves of his body, his feet moving in quick, rapid motions as his arms do something completely different. He knows what he's doing, and he knows that he's got the best chance he ever will to secure gold, so he's giving it everything he's got.

Surprisingly, Simon's got little else to say until the man on the ice is at the very end of his program, his hands together and arms pointed toward the ceiling as he spins rapidly. The music blares out a final note, and Shoma throws out his arm to strike his pose. Immediately after, he breaks out into a smile, stumbling forward as he’s given everything he has to this performance, and the fans begin to lose their minds with their cheering. They know he was great, he knows he was great, and the commentators surely recognize this young man's greatness.

Barring some sort of "Patrick Chan-Daisuke Takahashi" scoring disparity, Shoma will be the new World Champion. 

"...I think he's done it," Simon says. "Shoma came here to win, and I think he's done it."

"Everything about him was just really strong today," Chris agrees. "He knows what it takes to beat Hanyu. The program’s got to be as close to perfection as anyone can manage, and I'd say he was pretty close."

Discussing the sequence of events that led to such a masterful performance, Simon says, "Right from the beginning, with that opening quad flip—" He's fixed his misreading from earlier. Good. "—you knew that he meant business. Just look at the height he gets on that—"

"—I think it's just second-nature to him now..."

Simon hums. "Those combinations...I thought he had a little issue finding his balance with that quad toe-double toe, but he landed it, it was clean. There wasn't a single moment in this entire program that he looked like he was slowing down, like he was getting tired—"

"No, Shoma's always been one of those guys who has incredible stamina. He knows how to conserve his energy so that last minute of his program is just packed full of movement."

“He was a little cheeky this time around, wasn’t he?”

“Definitely. He was confident, and it showed.”

Simon nods. "I've always said that Shoma's been like the little prince trailing in the king’s shadow all this time. The king, of course, we know is Hanyu—" He clarifies the statement as if everyone doesn't already know what Yuzuru has done for the sport, "and Hanyu’s still going to be the king, that’s not going to change—but today, Shoma Uno proved that he's got what it takes to beat him, that he's done being second, and he wants that gold medal. There might actually be room for two kings."

Thinking to himself that the rivalry, if one could even call it that, between Shoma and Yuzuru is not quite as vicious as Simon pegs it to be, Chris still refrains from expressing that sentiment. Besides, the scores will be out soon, and they’ll speak for themselves, and these two commentators also have a conversation to continue.

During the replay, a shot of the green room is visible and Yuzuru Hanyu, the reigning World Champion, is leaning forward, fists clenched and jaw tight as he dutifully watches the younger man skate. He’s nervous but apparently not for himself, though it is a little surprising to see Yuzuru so concerned for someone else’s performance, and Simon says so. When Shoma had landed one of his quadruple jumps, Yuzuru had pumped his fist into the air rather suddenly, enough to scare Boyang and Nathan, who were sitting on either side of him. Simon huffs out a laugh at the sight.

“You know, I don’t think we’ve ever seen Hanyu excited for someone else to do so well since…maybe Fernandez? Even then, I don’t think he was happy if Javier actually beat him…”

Blinking, Chris shakes his head. He’ll actually keep this tidbit of information to himself for the next few minutes, because it’s quite obvious to him that everyone in the community except for Simon seems to know the nature of Yuzuru and Shoma’s relationship.

So, that’ll be a nice surprise.

Shoma's waiting for his scores next to his coach, who is beaming with happiness. She's got her arm around Shoma's shoulder, squeezing it lightly, and he leans over to whisper something to her. Mihoko nods, whispers something back, and uses her free hand to give him his water bottle. Shoma uncaps it with shaky hands and takes a tentative sip.

"You know, you never know what the judges are going to say. Maybe they saw something that we don't, but—but I'm going to say it. If he doesn't get a new personal best from what we've seen here tonight, then I think I’ve gone blind." Simon's sure of his statement, pausing for a moment. "And if he's not named the champion tonight..."

"I think he will be," Chris assures him. He's nervous, too, though. He's wanted to see Shoma win for quite some time. They all have.

They hear the disembodied voice of the announcer call for the scores, and Mihoko tenses, while Shoma, who tries to look unbothered, lowers his drink. They're all ready to do the math, to figure out if Shoma's scored enough to keep him in first, but they don't have to. His free skate scores only two points lower than Yuzuru's, and his lead from before was more than that.

He's in first, one skater left to go.

"He's done it!" Simon exclaims. Neutrality is dead; he’s wanted this for Shoma, and now that he's got it, he's not even bothering to hide his enthusiasm. "Look at that smile, he knows what he's done. Ah, it's been a long road for him to get here, but Shoma Uno's going to be the World Champion here this year!" 

They do have to turn their attention back to Mikhail Kolyada, who's the last person to take the ice. He was fifth in the short program, but realistically, there's no way he could overtake Shoma's score, since his personal best combined with his earlier score still wouldn't match Shoma's by quite a lot. 

But of course, while Kolyada is skating, the camera people are just as concerned with what’s going on with Shoma and Yuzuru and Boyang, the current top three (and likely, the three medalists at this event), and so a shot of the green room is visible for the audiences.

As soon as Shoma manages to finally stumble his way inside, still out of breath with his cheeks pink from exertion, he’s quickly enveloped into a hug by a pair of long, spindly arms. Yuzuru doesn’t have to lean down much, but he does a little anyway, only pulling away to get a good look at the new World Champion (that is, of course, assuming that Kolyada doesn’t suddenly break through the fourth dimension and a sound barrier to land the first seven quintuple jumps in the history of figure skating plus a triple Axel—and it’s very likely he won’t).

Yuzuru’s smile softens, his gaze warm and loving, and  _ sure _ , it’s obvious that he’s disappointed he hasn’t won—would he really be Yuzuru Hanyu if he didn’t expect so much from himself? But he’s got Shoma, and he sees that expression on Shoma’s face, that breathless smile and those wide eyes. All the years of working and grinding his way to the top, only to get pushed back down every time by little mistakes, big mistakes, and events out of his control, none of those things mean anything anymore. He’s won this event, and it feels good, and Shoma looks giddily happy, biting down on his lip as he smiles back up at Yuzuru. It feels amazing, that Japan will take the top two spots again, for the second year in a row, even if the medalists are in a different order.

The two of them seem to have been controlling the course of events in figure skating the last few years, and this competition will be no different.

The camera still hasn’t panned away, which is alright because Mikhail is still waiting for his scores and not actually skating, though Chris makes a point of commenting on how gracefully Mikhail skated. And that quad Lutz? Flawless. 

When Yuzuru’s hands cup either side of Shoma’s face, gently nudging the younger man to look up at him, someone—it’s Simon, of course, no one else would have the gall to ruin the moment—lets out a confused sort of laugh, a chortle, actually, accentuated by hearty pauses. “I thought we might want to save all the kisses for, well, the kiss and cry,” he chuckles nervously. 

Chris, fed up with the obliviousness his co-commentator has been displaying this entire night, lets out a long sigh. “…they’re dating, Simon.”

“Wha—no, they’re not—“ Surely Simon Reed, the self-proclaimed “Shoma Uno Fan Club Founding Member” would know that his little crown-prince of skating was no longer a child and was currently in a relationship with Yuzuru Hanyu. That information couldn’t have somehow evaded Simon’s radar, and yet he seems to be shell-shocked.

His argument fades quickly, though, as Yuzuru is caught up in the moment perhaps too much, and the older man leans down to press his lips against Shoma’s. It’s not long, their kiss (it’s long enough for everyone to see it, and the noise in the arena is nearly deafening), but Shoma’s hands move upward so that they’re resting against Yuzuru’s arms, like he doesn’t want either of them to move, lest they ruin the moment. Boyang is still sitting there, hands folded neatly on his lap as he watches, passive and nonjudgmental but feeling awkward by being the only person physically present at the moment.

“…I—“ Simon chuckles again, nervous but exhilarated, as he works to regain his train of thought. “—we-ell, we’ve got the scores for Mikhail Kolyada from Russia, and he’ll have to settle for fifth here tonight with a new personal best score for his free program...you know, I guess we’re not the only ones here who think that this other young man, Shoma Uno, our new World Champion, is an absolute wonder.”

It might be the only thing either of them have in common with Yuzuru Hanyu, this mutual appreciation and admiration (in Yuzuru’s case, more personal feelings) for Shoma, but at least they can all be assured that they have remarkable taste.

And they’ve got a new champion.

**Author's Note:**

> This has just been something silly I felt like would be fun to write. Big thanks to shomaun_ho for beta-ing this first and helping with more of the technical information. Hope you guys liked it!


End file.
